On April 17 at about 6:15 p.m., two boys ages 15 and 11 were riding their bikes in the P.S. 58 school yard when a man reportedly approached them asking questions about the younger child's bike.

Two other men approached the boys and asked if they had any “rolling papers.” They then told the boys to get off their bikes, saying “I’ve got something in my pocket and you don’t want to see what it is.”

When the 15-year-old boy tried to pedal away, one of the thieves grabbed the back peg of his bike and lifted it up into the air so the he fell off. The suspects left with both bikes.

After the three men got in a car and drove away, another man gave the boys the license plate of the getaway car. When police arrived, the man with the plate number got into a cab and drove away. It was later discovered the license plate number was fake.

Officers from the 104th Precinct were able to watch video footage of the incident from a camera at the school, but were unable to get a copy from the Department of Education without a subpoena.

The mother of the 15 -year-old boy, who asked to remain anonymous, was told a subpoena would take 20 to 30 days to process.

“They should release it under these circumstances,” she said. “It’s going to be too late after 30 days. The bikes are going to be painted and sold. They probably are already by now. This is total negligence.”

According to the mother, this is the second time in six months her son has had his bike stolen. The first time he watched someone cut his chain and steal the bike from a window at Queens Vocational High School in Long Island City.

“It’s one thing to watch your bike being stolen out the window, but it’s another thing when you’re physically thrown off your bike and someone takes it from you,” his mother said.

“It really is scary,” the boy said. “My main concern is that I’m safe and that my friend was safe. The lesson I learned was all those things that they say when you’re little, like don’t talk to strangers, even if you think that they could be a little bit friendly.”